


Ether (is orange)

by LizBee



Category: Firefly
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-11-09
Updated: 2005-11-09
Packaged: 2017-10-07 03:38:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizBee/pseuds/LizBee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ficlet-by-request - prompt: orange, ether, amused</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ether (is orange)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [musesfool](https://archiveofourown.org/users/musesfool/gifts).



Mal Reynolds was by no means a god-fearing man. More the opposite, and he didn't care who knew it. But he would get down on his knees and light incense to any deity that could preserve him from the sight of Kaylee eating an orange.

It wasn't that the sight was unpleasant – not in the least – but her daddy, back when she first joined his crew, had taken him aside and given him a few friendly words. About how his little girl was venturing out into the black for the first time, and she was mighty friendly, but he'd sleep better knowing that Mal was looking out for her. Making sure she was only friendly with the right people, generally acting in her father's stead.

These instructions were all very well, and Mal had no desire to grapple with Kaylee save what any woman-fancying man would have, but something about orange juice dripping down Kaylee's chin always sent him into another room.

Her daddy'd had a mighty impressive shotgun. And a horsewhip, which hadn't bothered him at the time, but Inara told some stories about what happened to fancy clubmen in the core what done a lady a disservice, and the horsewhip sometimes preyed on his mind.

Jayne had no such inhibitions, which was probably why he'd spent good coin on a sack of fresh oranges. And it was welcome, to be sure; they'd had a thin time of it since they'd left Mr Universe's planet. But the sight of Kaylee and the orange, combined with the doctor's besotted smile and Jayne's wolfish grin, had Mal making a quick trip to the bridge.

Inara, who sliced her orange in half, and then sliced the halves into careful half-moons, smiled in private amusement as he passed her. Mal ignored it. Plenty of things in that room to smile at, starting with the spelling error on Jayne's shirt. Nothing to do with him.

River was in the pilot seat, nibbling on a piece of rind and staring into space.

She said, "On Earth-that-was, the ancients believed that the heavenly bodies were made up of an element called ether. It was the highest element."

"You know, most people prefer not to eat the rind."

"I like it. It's bitter on my tongue. Physicists called it 'luminiferous ether', and said it pervaded all space."

"That's mighty pretty."

"I have orange bits in my teeth."

"That happens."

"Apples versus oranges is a traditional example of false comparisons." River picked up a toy dinosaur, running her finger down the curve of its tail. "I prefer lychees, myself."


End file.
